Accident

11 years ago. 

Stacy got called to the office for the supposed theft inside the classroom. She looked down, clutching her hands together, all sweaty and nervous. The teacher prepared some documents in her table, and saw Stacy fiddling with her hands. Her jaw clenched, she looked up to their professor, and the teacher approached her. 

Sitting down across from her table, Stacy looked up. Ms. Shawn uttered, “I’m sorry, you are the one your classmates are pointing at, so we don’t have a choice but to let you here.” 

Stacy was flabbergasted. She’s shocked, asking, “Why me? Why does it have to be me?” 

Ms. Shawn pushed a paper in front of her, and Stacy recognized the phone. She looked at it, trying not to get flustered, but she still did. Swallowing hard, Stacy cleared her throat. She’s careful not to get expelled even if it’s one day. The pressure inside their family was unbearable. She couldn’t keep up with it. 

“Do you have any accomplice aside from you, Ms. Stacy Lazaro?” 

“Her name is Samantha Lee. She’s my accomplice.” 

… 

Present time. 

“Right, I know you’re going to forget that,” Sam chuckled. Turning her heel around, she went to the other exit, and let Stacy hanging. Sam wouldn’t be able to compose herself if she tried to talk to her. It’s not good for both of them. The things weren’t meant to mold each other as it was.

Zach saw how Sam left Stacy right there. He carried on, running at the end of the hallway, and called out to his girlfriend. Stacy turned in his direction, seeing him with those bright crinkles, and halted. Stacy uttered, “Oh. You’re here. I thought you’re on full-work mode.” 

Zach turned to the exit, seeing Sam alone. Holding the remaining papers he purposely got from another department to deliver to Sam herself, he made an excuse again. This is not entirely right. Zach beamed, saying, “I just have to deliver this to Ms. Lee on the drama department. The head of information wanted to know if it delivered by myself.” 

Stacy observed his eyes. Whenever he talked about Sam, his eyes glint. Sam is such an important person in his life, and like Stacy, she could never remove that. A step on Sam’s dignity will trash out Zach no matter what. She heard of what happened last time, when an old woman came in the studios to reprimand Sam. 

Stacy was watching from afar, observing how Zach’s mom didn’t want to let her son getting stepped on. Sam was crumbling that time, and Stacy looked without doing anything. She missed Zach’s heroic move. 

“Are you going to her office?” Stacy asked once again. 

“Yeah, are you alright here? It will just be brief. You can come back to your office. Let’s have some dinner later, hmm?” Zach patted her shoulder, turning to the way where Sam had gone, and Stacy sighed. This was how she’d end up, right? She’d always be chasing his attention whenever he got distracted by the thought of Sam. She’s now the legal one, but why does it feel like she’s still the second? 

Looking at how Zach was desperate to reach her office fast, Stacy shrugged it all off. Walking away with her hands in her sleek coat, she felt numb. The pain doesn’t hit her anymore. 

… 

“Ms. Samantha Lee!” That was familiar. Turning her head to his direction, she knew it was Zach. She sighed, keeping it formal, and known a delivery of papers will be made. But why was Zach had to do it himself? 

Sam approached him in a careful distance, receiving the papers, and keeping their talk as casual as it seemed. Sam checked if it was all. It was to cut off her connection that fast with him. There’s nothing to talk about with Zach anymore. Sam muttered, “This is all. You can come back to your office right away, Mr. Gonzales.” 

She hurriedly turned around, eager to come back to her table, but Zach halted her tracks. 

“Can’t we do that?” Zach didn’t know what was happening to him. It just came out of his lips. Zach stared at her back, desperate to hitch her, to hug her tight. Why does his mind wanted to do those devilish actions? It’s never right to cheat with the woman you committed your relationship with. But it’s happening.

The tables turned around, and now he wanted to sail to two boats again. Sam glared at him. What is going on in his mind? 

“Can’t our eyes be the same like it used to? I don’t want to be nonchalant. I know you wanted to forget what happened to us…” 

“You are the one who brought this to us, Zach, not me. You are the one who hook up with Stacy while you were prepping up our marriage, am I right? Now you’re going to blame me. Are you some kind of…” Sam resisted herself. It was completely below the belt. She inhaled a hefty amount of air, trying to be calm, but she couldn’t. The anger was rising every time she saw a strand of his hair. 

Sam sighed. She’s dealing with someone who closed his mind. It’s hard to come by. 

“I mean, Sam, you…” 

“Don’t try to take back what has gone, Zach. You were the one who brought this, not me. Now why are you wondering why am I like this to you? Ask yourself. Have we been that good together? Have we ended the same as it is? It didn’t, am I right?” 

They… didn’t end in good terms. And it must be what Zach’s soul haunted him the most. 

… 

Zach gripped the empty bottle of the coffee he brought. Throwing it at the nearest trash bin, Sam’s words came back to him. His cell phone was vibrating in his pockets. Zach chose to ignore it for now. The work had stressed him out, and nothing could ease out the load. Might as well take a walk on an empty street and let his feet decide on a destination. 

“You are the one who brought this to us, Zach, not me. You are the one who hook up with Stacy while you were prepping up our marriage, am I right? Now you’re going to blame me.” 

He’s blaming himself. So hard he doesn’t even know himself. What did he see with Stacy that he hooked up with her, tamed her, sleep with her, and not thinking about Sam all along? He stopped in the middle of the street, and everything just sunk in. Right there… right there. The tears blurred his vision, and no matter how hard he tried to walk, Zach couldn’t move a step. Every time he thought of kissing Stacy, he thought of Sam. 

Like everything was just a part of him, and that he lost a significant piece to carry on with life. Zach looked up, pushing the tears back, but it’s still there. Zach walked a little more and stopped at the pedestrian lane. But his mind went foggy, lost, and that he couldn’t think straight. Hearing a beep made him walk, that even though the people need to let the cars passed through, he still did. 

Zach wanted to reach the other end, but a sudden disturbance in his vision made him shaken up. A car bumped him. His body tumbled to the car’s hood, slamming the back of his head to the car window, cracking it, and he fell, hard on the floor. The driver got surprised as he got distracted by the call over the phone. He didn’t know what happened, and gripped the steering wheel. 

The traffic got interrupted. The accident caused a stir to everyone. Zach didn’t know what has happened. His entire body crippled in pain and he couldn’t move at all. Everything was muffled, even the voices. Zach looked at the sky, and all he could smell was… blood. 

“Mister, are you okay?” 

“Mister! Mister!” 

There were figures became foggy in his vision. Nothing seemed to clear as he lay down on the cold cement. The beeps of the car were evident, and there were a lot of closing doors. Zach felt lost. There’s an excruciating pain on his back, and he couldn’t move.

“Sam…” All he could say was her name. He’s afraid she’s around, and not calling it out made him paralyzed. Zach felt a tear escaping his eyes as his pupils searched for the sky. He gasped for more air. There were the sirens, they appeared right after a moment. 

What will happen to him? 

What will happen to his eyes? To the back of his head? 

His eyes were shutting down. Zach couldn’t hold much longer. The people called the nurses quickly, and they laid down a stretcher. There was a lot of blood coming out of his head, and the nurses didn’t know if the man can survive. Zach closed his eyes, sniffing in the last breath he could, and shut it tight.